maryanne27
Avid Member
Chameleon Info:
Rory is a 1-year-old male graceful chameleon. I have had him for four months.
Handling – maybe once every few days for about 5 minutes max
Feeding – Lately, he hasn’t been eating much… a bit more since I took him to the vet, but maybe about 3 feeders each day. He goes more for soft-bodied worms, like hornworms, silkworms before they all died, an occasional butterworm, and now reptiworms; sometimes superworms. Every now and then he will have a cricket, but has been ignoring them lately. The crickets get Repashy Bug Burger alternated with a gutload I made loosely following Sandra’s recipe.
Supplements - Zilla calcium supplement sprayed on crickets or Repashy’s calcium powder daily, Repashy vitamin dust twice a month
Watering - Dripper used constantly. Hand mister used at least 3 times a day for a few minutes.
Fecal Description - Color and consistency seem pretty consistent with what is described as healthy under the health forum thread about bowel movements. Brown, semi-solid. Urates are a lighter yellow, a little bit of white. BM every 1-2, maybe 3 weeks. Last one was just under a week ago, slightly orange urates.
History – a little over a month ago, Rory stopped eating as much, and I noticed a small lump in his gullar region. I took him to the vet about 3 weeks ago (the only reptile vet remotely close, but they don’t have a ton of experience with chameleons). They did blood work and checked him over. Inside his throat was a little red and swollen, so I have been injecting him with antibiotics. Vitamin A was low, so he got some supplemental A; I have been putting cod liver oil on one feeder every day or so to get it up. Blood work was normal, but white counts were a bit high – probably due to infection.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - He is in a screen cage, about 3' long x1.5' wide x3’ high.
Lighting - I use the UV lamp recommended on the forum here (can't remember the actual brand, but I got exactly what was listed). Heat lamp is a normal 60 watt bulb. Turn on about 7 or 8 am, off at around 7 pm.
Temperature – basking temp is between 86-89; ambient ranges through the 70s depending on proximity to heat lamp. Try to keep low 70s at night.
Humidity - My house is very dry, but the room I keep Rory in is noticeably humid. Along with misting and dripping, I keep a normal room humidifier running.
Plants - I have one live plant in the cage - small scheflerra arboricola. There are about 5 other potted plants near the cage - heard that helps keep humidity up.
Placement - In our extra bedroom in a nook surrounded by windows. Not near fans or air vents. Extremely low-traffic area. The bottom of the cage is raised about 20” off of the floor.
Location - We live in northwest PA. Cold and snowy this time of year; air is dry. Weather has been fluctuating a lot lately between warm and freezing.
Current Problem – After I took him to the vet, he ate a more acceptable amount, but it has been dwindling. Not sure if he is sick, sore throat, or if he is just being picky. Anyways, the lump on his throat seems a bit harder, and he almost seems a bit weak when he grabs my hand. The vet has followed up with calls a few times, reassuring me that blood work was normal, other than white blood counts, and he was still checking around with other, more experienced, specialists. He suggested I could go to one of them, but they are about 5 hrs away in a different state or across this one. For now, he just wanted me to monitor Rory’s weight if I can get my hands on a gram scale.
I was wondering if anyone else had seen this sort of lump issue and what they did about it. I was looking up gullar edema, but Rory’s kidney function was supposedly fine, calcium levels were good. I will try to attach pictures. Any help would be appreciated!
As a side question, how would they behave if I have the temperatures too high? Seems to be ok, but I just want to know what to look for in case my thermometer acts up.
Rory is a 1-year-old male graceful chameleon. I have had him for four months.
Handling – maybe once every few days for about 5 minutes max
Feeding – Lately, he hasn’t been eating much… a bit more since I took him to the vet, but maybe about 3 feeders each day. He goes more for soft-bodied worms, like hornworms, silkworms before they all died, an occasional butterworm, and now reptiworms; sometimes superworms. Every now and then he will have a cricket, but has been ignoring them lately. The crickets get Repashy Bug Burger alternated with a gutload I made loosely following Sandra’s recipe.
Supplements - Zilla calcium supplement sprayed on crickets or Repashy’s calcium powder daily, Repashy vitamin dust twice a month
Watering - Dripper used constantly. Hand mister used at least 3 times a day for a few minutes.
Fecal Description - Color and consistency seem pretty consistent with what is described as healthy under the health forum thread about bowel movements. Brown, semi-solid. Urates are a lighter yellow, a little bit of white. BM every 1-2, maybe 3 weeks. Last one was just under a week ago, slightly orange urates.
History – a little over a month ago, Rory stopped eating as much, and I noticed a small lump in his gullar region. I took him to the vet about 3 weeks ago (the only reptile vet remotely close, but they don’t have a ton of experience with chameleons). They did blood work and checked him over. Inside his throat was a little red and swollen, so I have been injecting him with antibiotics. Vitamin A was low, so he got some supplemental A; I have been putting cod liver oil on one feeder every day or so to get it up. Blood work was normal, but white counts were a bit high – probably due to infection.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - He is in a screen cage, about 3' long x1.5' wide x3’ high.
Lighting - I use the UV lamp recommended on the forum here (can't remember the actual brand, but I got exactly what was listed). Heat lamp is a normal 60 watt bulb. Turn on about 7 or 8 am, off at around 7 pm.
Temperature – basking temp is between 86-89; ambient ranges through the 70s depending on proximity to heat lamp. Try to keep low 70s at night.
Humidity - My house is very dry, but the room I keep Rory in is noticeably humid. Along with misting and dripping, I keep a normal room humidifier running.
Plants - I have one live plant in the cage - small scheflerra arboricola. There are about 5 other potted plants near the cage - heard that helps keep humidity up.
Placement - In our extra bedroom in a nook surrounded by windows. Not near fans or air vents. Extremely low-traffic area. The bottom of the cage is raised about 20” off of the floor.
Location - We live in northwest PA. Cold and snowy this time of year; air is dry. Weather has been fluctuating a lot lately between warm and freezing.
Current Problem – After I took him to the vet, he ate a more acceptable amount, but it has been dwindling. Not sure if he is sick, sore throat, or if he is just being picky. Anyways, the lump on his throat seems a bit harder, and he almost seems a bit weak when he grabs my hand. The vet has followed up with calls a few times, reassuring me that blood work was normal, other than white blood counts, and he was still checking around with other, more experienced, specialists. He suggested I could go to one of them, but they are about 5 hrs away in a different state or across this one. For now, he just wanted me to monitor Rory’s weight if I can get my hands on a gram scale.
I was wondering if anyone else had seen this sort of lump issue and what they did about it. I was looking up gullar edema, but Rory’s kidney function was supposedly fine, calcium levels were good. I will try to attach pictures. Any help would be appreciated!
As a side question, how would they behave if I have the temperatures too high? Seems to be ok, but I just want to know what to look for in case my thermometer acts up.
I don't see a mass and from what I can see in the photo he looks good. Do you have more pictures? If you try to feed them to much sometimes they just get sick of seeing food. Don't show him any food at all for a couple of days and then ofer him some feeders. Try only feeding him all that he wants evey two to three days. I feed all my adults 3 days a week. I would stop the antibiotic. They are really hard on them and usually only given for 7 to 10 days. You can get a gram scale at WalMart near the kitchen stuff. I use the kind you would weigh food on when you are on a diet. His temps sound about right. If he's hot he would sit with his mouth open of stay in the lower part of the cage to cool off.
